Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Having your business’s website listed on page one of the search engines is a massive step towards creating the maximum amount of traffic to the site that’s possible. Local SEO (search engine optimization) is about having your brand or business placed in front of searches looking for you within the area that your business is serving.

SEO is all about the organic search results showing your website at the top of the page or as close as you can get for a specific keyword. This means ranking in the search engines like Yahoo, Bing, and Google without payment of any kind. This is in contrast with paid advertising.

Localized SEO increases the organic traffic in the website by differentiating your site from its regional and National competitors. Keep in mind that customers prefer local businesses partly because of the close proximity and local SEO will bring the website even closer to your target audience.

Search engine optimization usually focuses on increasing the visibility of your websites by pushing their rankings to the top of the results page, ideally the first link on the first page. Localized SEO narrows down the search results to a certain geographic area based on the keywords used, thus the addition of the specific area of the main keywords (i.e., plumbing services Phoenix). It should be noted that search engines are now including brand citations and mentions in their ranking algorithms, emphasizing the need for growing your brand by way of a more localized SEO plan.

Your business has a better chance of a creating visibility and credibility among online customers if and when you target the areas and markets where the number of your competitors is relatively small. The general rule is, the less competitors the more opportunities to work and interact with your clients at a more profitable level.

Use long tail keyword phrases relevant to your local target markets, where the customers are likely to be interested in your products and services. For example instead of targeting customers in urban areas, optimize for rural locations in your locality. Another reason to opt for a local SEO plan is the comments directions to customers tend to buy from local businesses because of the sense of community, reliability, and trust between the business owners and themselves.

You may be unable to compete with the big brand names on keywords like ” marriage counselors” but you can compete on keywords like “phoenix marriage counselors”.

With the increased visibility of your website in local searches, you have more opportunities to encourage customers to make actual purchases or visits to your site. This will translate into increased sales and profits for your business.

Assumption here’s the offline traffic has not only increased in quantity but increased in quality. And keep in mind that the quality online traffic me the difference between making a sale and wasting your SEO efforts